barbara boxer had just been elected senator, dianne feinstein has just been elected senator and bill clinton had just been elected president, and i thought it might be a good time to be chairman of the democratic party in california for two years. so i ran against a fellow by the name of steve barr, i won and served until i quit to come back for "crossfire." c-span: did you ever spin during the time you were chairman of the rep -- the democratic party? >> guest: oh -- oh -- oh, you... c-span: and did you ever feel bad about it? did you ever hear yourself saying things, you said, 'oh, that's just so bogus'? >> guest: oh, yeah. yeah. yes to both questions. sure, i -- i would spin and, yes, sometimes i would feel, 'i can't believe i got away with that.' i mean, the classic spin is when you lose an election -- and you hear this all the time. you lose an election, but you spin why you really -- it was as good as winning. you did so well it was as good as winning. and -- and -- and i can remember when we might have a special election and we go down and we really bust our butt and spent a l